Here's How To Make Sure You Get That Bonus

Here's How To Make Sure You Get That Year-End Bonus

As 2018 draws to a close, many workers have year-end bonuses on the brain. Whether your employer regularly doles out holiday bonuses, or you find yourself having to breach the topic yourself in a meeting, check-in, or yearly review, bonuses are an important way to add to your income, and for your employer to give feedback about your — and the company’s — performance.

The problem is, the gender wage gap affects bonuses just like salaries, in fact, it’s commonly referred to as the ‘bonus gap.’ For this reason, when we discuss closing the gap, we must keep in mind discrepancies in total compensation — not just base salary.

According to recent findings from a study by the ADP Research Institute, women earn 17%, or $15,000, less in yearly base salary than men. And, when it comes to bonuses, women ages 20 to 31 have a 21% smaller bonus-to-base ratio compared with their male coworkers. Another important finding was that incentive pay, which includes yearly bonuses, are directly related to whether an individual can manage to close the gender pay gap.

Though the gap in bonus earnings gets smaller with age, there is a pressing need for young women to close the bonus gap now. The only problem is asking for a bonus can be tricky.

Refinery29 chatted with Ariel Lopez, former recruiter, career coach, and founder and CEO of 2020Shift, who provided some tangible strategies for young women looking to ask for — and receive — a bonus and, in the process, help close the gender bonus gap.